Bluetooth (BT) wireless technology provides a manner in which many wireless devices may communicate with one another, without connectors, wires or cables. Current common uses for Bluetooth technology include those for headsets, cellular car kits and adapters. Moreover, Bluetooth technology is currently used for connecting a printer, keyboard, or mouse to a personal computer without cables. Also, since Bluetooth technology can facilitate delivery of large amounts of data, computers may use Bluetooth for connection to the Internet. Mobile communication devices such as cellular telephones may transfer photos, video or ring tones between them. Additional functionality is expected to continue to expand.
Before two Bluetooth enabled devices may communicate, the devices must be paired. Bluetooth pairing occurs when the two Bluetooth enabled devices become a trusted pair. To become a trusted pair, two Bluetooth devices must first complete a specific discovery and authentication process. When a first Bluetooth device recognizes a second Bluetooth device, and they complete a specific discovery and authentication process, each device can automatically accept communication between them.
Device discovery is the procedure a Bluetooth wireless device uses to locate nearby Bluetooth wireless devices with which it wishes to communicate. Exchanging the Bluetooth addresses of the discoverable devices, their friendly names and other relevant information via establishing a short term connection with each device in the vicinity can be a time consuming procedure. The procedure can involve having one Bluetooth wireless device transmitting an inquiry request to other Bluetooth wireless devices scanning for inquiry requests. A device that transmits the inquiry request (a potential master) is said to be discovering devices while the device that is scanning for inquiry requests is said to be discoverable.
Service discovery is another procedure in which one Bluetooth device searches for a service or application that may be provided by one or more remote Bluetooth devices. Similar to the device discovery procedure, the originated Bluetooth device (in this situation a client device) has to send an inquiry to other Bluetooth devices (in this situation a server device) to determine whether those Bluetooth devices have the service or application being searched available. This procedure usually takes relatively long time and it may consume more power. Devices with other communication systems, such as radios operating under a WiFi standard (e.g. IEEE 802.11n or other IEEE 802.11 standards) or under other wireless communication systems, can also take a relatively long time to discover each other and their respective services. There has been a lack of an efficient way to perform a service discovery procedure.